


An Act of Trust

by EmpressStars



Category: Everyday I Get Up to See the Villain Stealing the Show
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25170895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressStars/pseuds/EmpressStars
Summary: The tides have turned and whoever caused the destruction of the Tianyuan Mountain Villa are now attacking the Yuehua Sect. At the peak of battle, will An Yuan let his feelings for Han Changsheng prevent him from saving the Yuehua Sect from the fate his beloved homeland once faced?---This is mostly a vent-fic I wrote a while ago when the tension was especially high. It doesn't exactly line up with the story now, but it was fun to rediscover. Enjoy!
Relationships: An Yuan/Han Changsheng
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	An Act of Trust

* * *

" _ Who are you? _ "

The voice, empty, cold, echoed through Han Changsheng, far louder than the thunder filling the air. He swallowed, looking at the Dog Lord, his apprentice. Just from a glance, he could feel his rage, his eyes alight, flickering with the shots of lightning overhead.

Over his shoulder, Yuehua Sect members scrambled, rushing to light torches in the darkness as they grabbed swords and shields alike. Further still, he saw lights in the distance, heard the clashes of swords between each burst of thunder.

"I won't take your lies!" An Yuan's sword at his throat, Han Changsheng's eyes narrowed, refusing to step back. Before his apprentice even realized it, the Longyin sword was already at his gut, rested and waiting.

Their gazes met.

"I  _ said _ , we could help!" Han Changsheng insisted, his eyes narrow as An Yuan twisted, slashing his blade away.

"You deny every relation to the Tianning, yet you offer their help?" An Yuan accused, "Yet, you come to their defense, every time? Yet, you call yourself "we", one of  _ them _ ?"

With each question, he struck out, throwing himself into every strike, forcing Han Changsheng back as he worked to block each one. With each crashing blow, the next grew harder and harder to block. He was breathless to keep up, and found himself stepping back. Tasting iron, he gritted his teeth.

"What does it matter?!" He yelled, his voice cracking with the thunder as he struck back, daring An Yuan to fall into his place. "The Yuehua is under attack. If we don't do something, it'll end up just like the Mingyue Sect, just like Tianyuan Villa!"

An Yuan cried out in rage, slashing back with his fiercest blow. Using every ounce of his strength, Han Changsheng blocked it, but only just. His arms ached, but he held steady, desperate to hold the Dog Lord's gaze.

"Do you want them to die?" Han Changsheng asked, his voice level as his internal power surged upwards into his arms. Their blades held steady, unmoving as rain poured downwards. Waterdrops slid along the sharp metal and dripped free from their wrist guards.

For a moment, only the sound of the falling rain filled the air.

Finally, a flicker of lightning filling the sky, An Yuan let his sword fall.

Han Changsheng's heart skipped over a beat. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his own pose, then wiped the rain dripping down his brow, rubbing away his makeup. Flicking the water away, he heard thunder echo, followed by a second flash of light, but not from lightning.

Again, An Yuan's sword was at his throat.

A hoarse laugh in his throat, he stepped back again, only to find himself against a wall. There was nowhere left to run. With a flick of his wrist, An Yuan forced his chin upwards.

"Can they be trusted?"

"…Yes."

"How can you be sure?"

The blade dug deep into his skin, and An Yuan's eyes flashed across from him. His throat bobbed.

"I'm…"

"Who?!" An Yuan demanded, snarling, " _ Who are you _ ?"

"Their leader," Han Changsheng said, his eyes as narrow as his words were biting. His tongue darting out, he licked the rain dripping down his cheek. "The leader of the Demonic Cult, Han Changsheng!"

An Yuan's eyes widened. "All this time…"

Before he could finish, a dart shot through the air, striking An Yuan's sword at the hilt enough to throw his blade away from Han Changsheng. It drew a line against his neck, sending sparks of a burning pain up his throat. Taking heaving breaths, Han Changsheng ignored it, merely looking over An Yuan's shoulder to his left and right guardians.

"Xiaobai, Xiaoqing! Enough!" Han Changsheng stepped forward, holding his arm between them and An Yuan. Though they were hidden in the darkness, he saw confusion written in their gazes.

"Cult leader…"

He could only imagine what they saw. Their cult leader, devoted to a plan he'd never explain, insistent on keeping a  _ stranger _ alive, now blatantly putting himself between safety and danger.

"Go," He said, his voice firm, but ringing, "Go help the Yuehua. That's an  _ order _ ."

In the depths of night, the duo nodded. Then, like they were never there at all, they disappeared, silent in the rain.

Han Changsheng turned back to An Yuan. "We have to leave."

"Your neck…" An Yuan said, breathless as his gaze shifted from where his guardians once stood to the gash on his neck.

Having forgotten it until then, Han Changsheng reached up, feeling warm blood seeping down his fingertips. Pain stitched along his skin, lining the cut like needles piercing his flesh. At his side, his hand clenched around the hilt of the Longyin sword. "It's fine."

"It's not."

In the dim glow from the torches lining the paths of the Yuehua Sect, Han Changsheng watched as An Yuan sheathed his sword and tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve. He stepped forward, then hesitated, his blue eyes darting upwards. Beneath their sharp gaze, he saw fire, boiling their depths.

For once, he couldn't read him.

The thought struck him, shaking him to his core. An Yuan was a narcissistic prick even on his best day. But this was…

_ Selfless _ ?

In a fluid motion, An Yuan wrapped the cloth around his throat, covering the gash he didn't mean to leave, all while Han Changsheng refused to look away. His brow creased, Han Changsheng reached up, his hand curling around An Yuan's soft cheek.

Thunder rumbled around them, but the world stopped spinning. The swords stopped clashing, the rain stopped, even the fire stopped flickering. For a moment, there was nothing. There was everything, all at once, in the still of their breaths and laced in the beating of their hearts.

"An Yuan…"

" _ No _ ," An Yuan said, brushing his hand away, his gaze shooting daggers. "Make them help. Don't let what happened to Tianyuan Villa happen to the Yuehua Sect."

Swallowing, Han Changsheng nodded. "I won't let it happen."

Before he could say anything more, An Yuan vanished into the Yuehua Sect.

His fingers brushing against the makeshift bandage, Han Changsheng sighed, then started towards the Tianning Cult. 


End file.
